I confess. I am a happy girl when I have my hands in paste. Being a papier mache artist means a joyful return to a simple craft from grade school. It started with a papier mache bowl. I saw the instructions in a library book years ago and made a lumpy, wonky bowl. I would not begin to try to explain why I kept shredding newspaper and mixing wallpaper paste or why I still do.

My art form of choice began in China; where paper began. The ancient Chinese made helmets from papier mache during the Han Dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD). These helmets were fortified with many layers of lacquer.

Papier Mache  is French for “chewed paper”, although did the French workers in London shops really chew the paper? Really? No one seems certain.

In Engand, in 1740 the manufacturer John Baskerville began to imitate the lacquered pieces from Japan. This is how the term “japanning” came about. These included functional pieces like chairs with as many as 100 layers of paper. By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne, there were at least 25 companies producing papier mache items.

The most common pieces included trays, inkstands,  snuff boxes and letter holders. Eventually they moved on to creating larger items and furniture such as firescreens, chairs and tables, bookcases, wardrobes and beds. Here is an example of an elegant (paper!) chair decorated with papier-mâché and mother of pearl, exhibited in the Museum of Carmen de Maipú in Chile.

One common item made in the 19th century in America was the paper canoe, most famously made by Waters & Sons of Troy, New York. The invention of the continuous sheet paper machine allowed paper sheets to be made of any length, and this made an ideal material for building a seamless boat hull. The paper of the time was significantly stretchier than modern paper, especially when damp, and this was helpful in the manufacture of paper boats. They were reinforced with wooden strips and then waterproofed. Paper racing shells were highly competitive during the late 19th century. Not surprisingly, few examples of paper boats survived.